Technology companies in the UK keen on grasping chances in content transformation movement
In a significant move in the tech industry, Workshare and SkyDox have announced their merger, with the combined company set to be known as Workshare and SkyDox. The merger was boosted by a £20 million investment from Scottish Equity Partners and the Business Growth Fund.
The merged company will offer a cloud-based content-sharing and collaboration platform, positioning it as a competitor to Huddle and Alfresco in the cloud space. This move comes as both Workshare and SkyDox aim to capitalize on the growing demand for iCloud login solutions in the enterprise market.
Huddle's Success in the Enterprise Market
Huddle, a London-based startup founded in 2006, has found favor in the government market, being the best-selling cloud service on the UK government's G-Cloud program. Approximately half of Huddle's 100,000+ customers have replaced Microsoft SharePoint, another third use Huddle as an adjunct to their existing ECM investments, and the remaining third use it as their first real ECM repository. Huddle's CEO, Alastair Mitchell, claims that the company provides a mobile-friendly repository for documents, allowing employees to comment and collaborate through a consumer-friendly interface.
Workshare's Unique Offering
Workshare, founded in 1999 in the United Kingdom by UK technology entrepreneur Barry Hadfield, originally provided client-server document comparison software. However, Workshare's solution will differentiate itself through a web interface that shows changes since the last time a document was accessed, and the ability to apply policies such as click-through NDAs or restricting downloads.
In September, Huddle received the endorsement of In-Q-Tel, the US government's technology investment division. In-Q-Tel has also made an investment in Huddle and lined up several US government departments that will adopt the service. Workshare will not aim to replace existing enterprise content management systems, but will compete with them for investment from potential customers.
The Competitive Landscape
The merged company will have to compete not only with other cloud-based content-sharing and collaboration platforms like Huddle and Alfresco, but also with consumer services such as Dropbox for the attention and engagement of employees. This push to make their tools as usable as possible is crucial for Workshare and SkyDox to succeed in the competitive market.
In 2008, Barry Hadfield, the founder of WorkShare, left the company to set up SkyDox, a content-sharing and collaboration platform vendor. SkyDox is primarily a cloud-based tool, but allows customers to deploy it on their private infrastructure as well.
A Promising Future
Total sales at Huddle are expected to triple this year, and enterprise revenues are expected to grow by 800%. Huddle also achieved ISO 27001 certification this year, denoting management oversight of its information security practices. With the merger, the combined company aims to build on these successes and establish itself as a leading player in the cloud-based content collaboration market.
The merger was announced in September 2021, with Anthony Foy, the CEO of both Workshare and SkyDox, set to lead the combined company. As the tech industry continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Workshare and SkyDox navigate the competitive landscape and carve out their niche in the cloud-based content collaboration market.
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